Twain Harte, Ca — Christmas has come a little bit early for a Twain Harte family.

It all started a week ago Saturday, when husband and wife Redmond Younger and Betsy Hurst-Younger received a telephone call from a Minnesota breeder of Leonberger puppies. The family was interested in this rare breed of canine, and learned that a family from Orangevale, California was planning to drive to Minnesota to pick up another Leonberger, and would be happy to drive a second one back for the Twain Harte family.

After the Orangevale couple picked up the dogs and were heading back home, however, they suffered a major accident in Rock Springs, Wyoming. The car rolled over, and the dogs ran from the scene.

Thankfully, the couple was not seriously injured in the accident. There was, however, some minor injuries sustained. In the spirit of the holidays, what happened next was a massive search for the dogs. Hurst-Younger says she talked to the local newspaper, and the news desk decided to make the lost dogs” the front page story the following day.

She notes that, People were arriving with their own dogs on the side of Interstate 80 searching for the dogs.” She says the media, public, road crews, off duty sheriff’s deputies and others were spending valuable time helping in the search.

During the massive effort, the dogs were eventually found. The two were spotted by a man on Interstate 80. He was able to catch one of the dogs, however, the second ran off. The other dog was later found by road maintenance workers on the opposite side of the interstate.

Hurst-Younger says it was a great ending to this Holiday story. It’s been such a whirlwind of ups and downs, and we’re just thankful that this Christmas is going to be just a wonderful Christmas for all the families involved.”